The present disclosure generally relates to the field of processing biological samples for analytical purposes and, in particular, to an automated system and method for processing vessels containing the biological samples where the vessels are placed and moved while held in vessel holders.
The processing of biological material is of considerable significance for analytical purposes. Automated systems such as analyzers are commonly used in such processes. Devices are commercially available which typically require vessels such as test tubes or vials for biological samples and/or reagent liquids.
In order for the analyzer to conduct experiments on a biological sample, for example in a clinical laboratory, the vessel containing the sample usually needs to be supported by a vessel holder, which may be, for example, a rack for multiple vessels, or a holder for a single vessel.
In an analyzer, a vessel needs to be transported by a suitable transport medium, such as a conveyor, to the site of analysis or the respective preparative steps. For opening the vessel and manipulating the sample therein by robotic manipulators, the vessel needs to be maintained in a specific orientation. A vessel holder contributes to providing such conditions, for example, by establishing a connection between the vessel holder and the transport medium and maintaining the vessel in a proper position during manipulation of the sample in a work cell. Hence, an automated system needs to employ a sufficient quantity of vessel holders in order to ensure a proper workflow with regard to the vessels containing biological samples.
However, empty vessel holders are vessel holders in an idle mode, i.e. not holding a vessel, and the presence of too many of them can pose a significant burden on the components of a system and adversely affect the system's performance.
Firstly, empty vessel holders physically occupy space in the automated system. The transport medium should be available for the transport of vessel holders in an operative mode, i.e. holding vessels containing biological samples, such that they can be delivered to the respective components of the automated system. Any empty and thus idle vessel holder is therefore unnecessary and thus an undesired element in or on the transport medium.
Secondly, automated systems like analyzers mostly require controlling software running on a computer which, among other tasks, controls the transport of samples within the system. For this and other purposes, elements moving within the system are often frequently identified on their route. For instance, a vessel holder holding a vessel containing a biological sample needs to be identified upon arrival at an intersection, such that it may move in the correct direction and be transported to the appropriate station of the system, such as a work cell. As an example, an automated system may include one distinct work cell for each specific type of sample. Hence, a vessel holder holding a vessel with a blood sample would have to be identified as such upon arrival at an intersection in order to be correctly transported to the work cell for blood samples, whereas a vessel holder holding a vessel with a urine sample would have to be identified to be transported to another dedicated work cell. If empty vessel holders are also identified at each of the respective identification points, they are not transported to a dedicated work cell, but can remain in or on the transport medium and are thus repeatedly identified. Each of these unnecessary identification events creates data, which in sum may considerably slow down the computer system controlling the analyzer. This is especially the case since many systems involve the use of databases into which data collected during such identification events have to be entered and compared to stored data for identification and workflow direction.
The problems mentioned above are of particular significance in the case of medium- to high-throughput analysis, as often encountered in central clinical laboratories or blood banks. With an increasing number of samples to be analyzed within a certain period of time, the demand for vessel holders becomes accordingly higher, and the system needs to work as efficiently as possible.